Car starting and stopping device.



GAR STARTING AND STOPPING DEVICE. APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 9. 1905.

3 SHEETSSHEET 1.

&

WITNESSES INVENTDR l ,1 1 ROBERT MAW. M v

No. 808,939. PATENTED JAN. 2, 1906. R. MAW.

CAR STARTING AND STOPPING DEVICE.-

APPLICATION FILED SEPT.9.1906.

FIG. 85

3 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

INVENTDR ROBERT MAW.

WITNESSES PATENTED JAN. 2, 1906.

R. MAW. GAR STARTING AND STOPPING DEVICE.

INYEN'I'OR WITNESES UN TED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ROBERT MAW, OF MONTREAL, CANADA.

CAR STARTING AND STOPPING DEVICE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Jan. 2, 1906.

Application filed September 9, 1905. Serial No. 277,701.

To a whom it may concern:

pumps suitably geared to the axles of the car-truck to compress air in areservoir placed beneath the car, thus stopping the car and storing upthe energy of its momentum;

This pump is thrown into action at will by means of a plurality ofclutches on the truckaxles operated by air from the reservoir.

When desired, the compressed air is allowed to pass from the reservoirthrough a valve to an air-motor suitably geared to the truckaxles.Further manipulations of the same valve operate air-actuated clutchessimilar to those used for the pumps and throws the motor into gear withthe axles. Still further vmanipulations of the valve releases theclutches and stops the motor, whereupon the regular motive power may beapplied and the car allowed to continue on its way. As a furthersafety-guard I provide a band-brake attached to the drive-shaft of thepumps. This brake is manually operated and may be used as anemergency-brake, since it makes the pumps harder to operate, thus takingmore of the energy of the momentum of the car.

The advantages of my device are numerous and obvious; but I wish to callspecial attention to the fact that by eliminating brakeshoes bearing onthe rims of the wheels I reduce to a minimum the wear and tear on thetires and eliminate all danger of flattening the wheels. A great amountof motive power will be saved, since the car or train will get up speedfrom the stored-up energy in the reservoir.

In the drawings which illustrate my invention,"wherein like charactersdenote like parts throughout all the figures, Figure 1 is a plan view ofan electric street-railway truck, showing the application of my devicethereto. Fig. 2 is a side elevation of Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a plan view ofa sprocket, showing the attachment of the clutch. Fig. 4 is averticalsection through the center of the sprocket and clutch. Fig. 5 is avertical section through the center of the clutch-collar, showing themethod of attaching the fork thereto. Fig. 6 is a horizontal sectionalview of the clutch-collar and shows the position of the fork and theconstruction of its terminals. Fig. 7 is a cross-sectional view'of thevalve for operating the compressor-clutches. Fig. 8 is a verticalsection of same on the line A A, Fig. 7. Fig. 9 is a cross-section onthe line B B, Fig. 11. Fig. 10 is a cross-section on the line C C ofFig. 11 of the controlling-valve for the airmotor. Fig. 11 is a verticalsection of the air-motor and clutch-valves on the lines D D of Figs. 9and 10. Fig. 12 is a longitudinal section of the air-cylinder foractuating the clutches.

The explanation of my device falls naturally under three headsnamely,the compressor, the air-motor, and the clutches with theircontrolling-valves and actuating mechanism.

The com ressor.Referring to the figures, 1 is a trucii of the ordinarytype, having a bolster 2 and wheels 3, mounted on axles 4 and driven byelectric motors 5, with their attendant gearing. A pair of large similarchain sprockets 6 are mounted one on each axle as close as possible tothe car wheel. Passing over these and around a smaller sprocket 8,rigidly mounted on a counter-shaft 9, the ends of which bear in thetruckframe 1, is a chain 7. Rigidly attached to the counter-shaft 9 is asmall pinion 10, connected by a chain belt 11 to a large sprocket 12,fixed to a drive-shaft 13, the bearings of which are attached to thetransverse brackets or the rods 13*, running from side to side of thetruck. Keyed to the shaft 13 are a plurality of opposed eccentrics 14,which drive a plurality of reciprocating water-jacketed air-pumps 15,attached to the end of the truck-frame. The air delivered from thesepumps is conveyed through a pipe 16 to an air-reservoir 17, fixed underthe car midway between the trucks. The pipe 16 is provided with aflexible portion 16 to allow for the swing of the truck in roundingcurves. The sprockets 6 are thrown in and out of gear with the axles 4at will by a mechanism hereinafter described.

The air-m0i01".Depending from a strong bracket 24 is an air-motor 24,adapted to move the car either forward or backward. This motor isconnected to large sprockets 22,

fixed to a counter-shaft 21, bearing in the truck-frame, by chains 23.Rigidly attached to the counter-shaft 21 is a large pinion 20, overwhich runs a chain 19, connecting it with the large sprockets 18,mounted on the axles 4. These sprockets 18 are similar to the sprockets6 and are thrown in and out of gear by a mechanism similar to thatattached to the sprockets 6.

The clutches, with the controlling and actuating mechanism.-Thecontrolling and actuating mechanism of the clutches for the sprockets 6consists of a pipe 27, conveying compressed air from the reservoir 17and delivering it to a manually-operated valve 29,

through which it passes into a pipe 26, whichconveys it into theactuatingcylinder 25, Where it operates to pull the tension-rod 30, towhich are attached movable angle-levers 31, which are suitably connectedto the clutch-fork 32. The pipe 26 also conveys air from the cylinder 25when it is not desired to use the clutches and delivers it to the valve29, from which it escapes through the orifice 28 into the open air. Thecontrolling mechanism of the motor-clutch is similar, consisting of avalve 37, inlet-pipe 35, pipe to air-cylinder 34, escape-orifice 36,aircylinder 33, tension-rod 38, angle-levers 39, and clutch-forks 32.Attached to the valve 37 and operated by its spindle 68, Fig. 11, is amotor-controlling valve, which takes air from the tank 17 through thepipe 40 and passes it through the pipe 41 with the flexile portion 42 tothe air-motor 24.

The clutches consist (see Figs. 3, 4, 5, and 6) of a pulley 43, rigidlyattached to the axle 4 by a key 44 and having a loose rim 45, providedwith teeth 46 to engage a chain belt. Two or more of the spokes of thepulley 43 are provided with slides 47, which hold the jaws 48 of theclutch. These aws are provided on the side remote from the pulley 43with raised lugs 49, adapted to be pivotally connected to one end of thelinks 50, which are connected at their other ends to similar lugs 51 ona grooved collar 52, which fits loosely around the axle 4. The inturnedterminal posts 54 of the clutch-fork 32 are rovided each with aloosely-surrounding s eeve 55, which fits into the annular groove 53 inthe collar 52, so as to leave a slight clearance 56.

The valve 29 for controlling the clutch mechanism (see Figs. 7 and 8)consists of a body 57, a rotatable plug 58, integral with a spindle 60,and a-cover 59. In the body is an inlet-passage 61, connected to thepipe 27 which leads air to the port 64, cut through the plug 58, whichconnects the passage 61 with the passage 62, connected to the pipe 26.Exhaust-air passes from the pipe 26 through the passage 62 and the port64, which then connects it to the passage 63, terminating in the orifice28.

The valve 37 for controlling the motor clutches is similar to the valve29 and comprises a body 65, a rotatable plug 66, integral with a spindle68, a cover 67, and has in the body an inlet-passage 69, connected tothe pipe 35, an outlet-passage 70, connected to the pipe 34, anexhaust-passage 71, terminating in an orifice 36 and in the plug-port 72therethrough.

Rigidly attached to the bottom of the valve 37 is a second valve forcontrolling the air-supply to the motor. This valve consists of a bodymember 73, a rotatable plug 74, integral with the valve-spindle 68, aport 7 8 therethrough, an inlet-passage 75 from a chamber 76, whichopens into the pipe 40, and an outlet-passage 77, opening into a chamber78, connected to the pipe 41.

As an emergency-brake I provide a flanged pulley 79, keyed to thecounter-shaft 9. A strong metal strap 80, reaching around this, isfastened at one end to the truck-frame 1 and at the other terminates intension-rod 81, which is operated by a chain 82, connected thereto andwound around a drum 83 on a shaft 84, which shaft may be rotated at willby the manual ratchet-lever 85.

The clutch-operating cylinders 25 and 33 contain air-tight pistons 86,piston-rods 87, connecting them with the tension-bars 30 and 38, andsprings 88 behind the pistons to operate the systems of levers torelease the clutches when the air is allowed to escape through the pipes26 and 34 from the front of the pistons.

The operation of my device is as follows: An initial pressure suflicientto offer considerable resistance to the pumps having been obtained inthe reservoir 17 and the momentum of the car having been attained, themotorman or engineer on wishing to stop shuts off his motive power andturns the handle of the compressor clutch control valve from E F to E G,Fig. 7, which causes the port 64 to assume the position shown in Fig. 7,connecting the passages 61 and 62.

Air from the reservoir 17 rushes through the pipe 27, the passage 61,port 64, and passage 62 through the pipe 26 and into the cylinder 25 infront of the piston 86, driving it back and compressing the helicalspring 88. The backward movement of the piston acting through thepiston-rod pulls on the tension-rod 30, supported in the brackets 13 and24 and causes the longer arms of the angle-levers 31 to move in towardthe tension-rod 30, drawing with them the upper ends of the clutch-forks32, which are pivotally mounted in the centers. The lower end of thefork 32 moves out toward the wheels and carries with it the groovedcollar 52, which it engages by means of the revoluble sleeves 55,turning on the fork-terminals 54 in the grooves 53. This movement causesthe jaw ends of the links 49 to move away from the shaft and toward theloose counter-shaft 9.

'rim carries the link belt. with it, which link belt passes over thepinion 8, fixed on the A reducing-gear consisting, preferably, of asmall pinion 10, fixed on the counter-shaft 9 and connected by a chain11 to a large sprocket 12, fixed on the pumpshaft 13, is used to reducethe speed to make sure of good action in the pumps 15, which areoperated by eccentrics 14, fixed on the shaft 13. The pumps force airthrough the pipe 16 into the reservoir 17 against the existing initialpressure. to force air into the reservoir against the ex isting pressurerapidly consumes the mo mentum of the car or train, which is broughtsmoothly and quickly to a standstill. The driver then returns the handleof the valve 29 from E G to E F, whereupon the plug 58 blocks thepassage 61, cutting off the reservoir-pressure from the cylinder 25, andthe port 64 connects the passage 62 with the ex- 'haust-passage 63.- Theair in the cylinder 25 rushes into the pipe 26 by its own expansion andby the impulse of the compressed spring 88 driving the piston 86forward. From the pipe 26 it passes through the passage 62, the port 64,and the passage 63, and finally escapes through the orifice 28. On therelease of the air from the cylinder the expansion of the spring 88reverses the 1novements of the system of levers above de-.

scribed and draws the clutch-jaws 48 away from the loose rim 45, leavingit free to remain stationary while the pulley 43 revolves within it.Shortly before the driver wishes to start his train or car he moves thehandle which controls both the air-supply for the motor and for themotor-clutches from H J to H K, the air passing through pipe 40 from thereservoir and into the chamber 76,

through the opened portion of the passage 7 5,,

port 78*,passage 77, into the chamber 78, and pipe 41 to the motor. Inthe superposed valve for controlling the clutches the passages 69, 7 O,and 71 are all still blocked by the plug 66. As the motor revolves attoo high a rate of speed to have it connected directly to the axles, areducing-gear is interposed between it and the wheels, which geargreatly reduces the speed, and consequently adds proportionately to thepower. The gear consists of chains 23, connecting the motor to a pair oflarge sprockets 22, mounted on a counter-shaft 21, which counter-shaftalso bears a fixed pinion 20 of suitable size, connected by a chain 19to the loose rims of the sprockets 18. These sprockets, together withthe clutches attached to them and the mechanism operating the clutches,are in every respect similar to those above de- The power requiredscribed in connection with the compressor. When the driver is ready tostart the car, he shifts the handle of the motor-valve from H'K to H L,which movement in the lower valve fully uncovers the passages and 77,

giving the motor full power immediately after, bringing the port 72 inthe upper valve in line with the passages 69 and 70, whereupon airrushes through the pipe 55, passage 69, port 72, passage 70, and pipe 34into the cylinder 33 to move the piston 86, attached tension-rod 38, andangle-levers 39, operating the clutches as abovedescribed. The motion ofthe motor is then thrown into the wheels through the system of chains,sprockets, and pinions, and the car moves forward or backward, as thedriver desires. l/Vhen the compressed air stored up in the reservoir bythe pumps falls to the initial pressure, the driver moves the handlefrom H L to H M, whereupon the air is shut out of the cylinder 33, thespring 88 releases the clutches, and the air passes through the pipe 34,passage 70, port 72, passage 71, and escapes through the orifice 36.Another move from H M to H N covers the passages 75 and 77 of the lowervalve and shuts the air out of the motor, which is no longer connectedwith the wheels of the car and which now stops. The motive power of thecar is applied after moving the valvehandle to H M and the car allowedto proceed under its natural power before moving the valve to H N. Whenthe driver desires to stop very quickly, he winds up the chain 80 on thedrum 83, thus pulling the rod 81, which tightens the metal strap 80around the flanged pulley 79, fixed to the counter-shaft 9, thusoflering greater resistance to the pumps.

To those skilled in the art to which my invention relates it will beobvious that this novel method of stopping and starting cars and trainswill greatly minimize the wear and tear on the wheels and tracks, at thesame time giving greater comfort and safety to passengers by providing ameans for stopping trains rapidly and with very little jar and noise.Further, it will greatly reduce the amount of motive power required,particularly in streetrailways, where the stops are frequent.

Having thus described my invention, so that the same may be readilyunderstood by those skilled in the art to which it appertains, what Iclaim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. In a car starting and stopping device, the combination of a pluralityof air-compressors, chain-gearing connecting the compressors to theaxles of the truck, a reservoir adapted to contain compressed air, apipe connecting the compressors and the reservoir, an air-motor gearedto the truck-axles, a pipe connecting the reservoir with the airmotor, acontrolling valve in said pipe clutches mounted on the truck-axles forIIS throwing the compressor and the air-motor in and out of gear, meansfor actuating the clutches, and means for controlling said actuatingmeans, substantially as described.

2. In a car starting and stopping device, the combination of a pluralityof water-jacketed air-compressors, a reducing-gear connecting thecompressors to the truck-axles, a reservoir adapted to containcompressed air, a flexible pipe connecting the compressors and thereservoir, an air-motor, a reducinggear connecting the air-motor to thetruckaxles, a pipe connecting the air-motor and the reservoir, acontrolling-valve in said pipe, clutches mounted on the axles adapted tothrow the compressors and air-motor in and out of gear, an air-actuatedsystem of tensionrods and levers for operating said clutches, and meansfor controlling said air-actuated system, substantially as described.

3. In a car starting and stopping device, the combination of a pluralityof aircompressors geared to the truck-axles, a plurality of clutches,mounted on the axles, adapted to throw the air-compressors in and out ofgear, a reservoir connected to the air-compressors, a reversibleair-motor connected to the reservoir, clutches, mounted on the axles,adapted to throw the air-motor in and out of gear, a system oftension-rods and levers adapted to operate the clutches, air-actuatedmeans for operating said tension-rods and levers,

valves'for controlling said air-actuated means, and an emergency-brakeconnected to the gearing of the air-compressor, substantially asdescribed.

4. In a car starting and stopping device, the combination of a pair ofcompressorpumps, sprocket-wheels mounted on one end of the truck-axlesand connected to the compressor-pumps by chain-gearing, clutchesattached to said sprocket-wheels adapted to throw the compressor-pumpsin and out of gear, areservoir connected to the compressorpumps, areversible air motor, sprocketwheels mounted on the opposite end of thetruck-axles and connected to the air-motor by chain-gearing, a secondseries of clutches adapted to throw the air-motor in and out of gear, apipe connecting the reservoir and the airmotor, a controlling-valvemounted in said pipe, tension rods and levers adapted to operate saidclutches, air-actuated pistons for operating said tension-rods andlevers, valves for controlling said air-actuated pistons, and anemergency band-brake connected to the gearing of the air-compressor,substantially as described.

In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand in the presence of twowitnesses.

ROBERT MAl/V. Witnesses:

STUART R. W. ALLEN, N. HENDERSON.

